1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles made from polyvinyl chloride/wood composite having a natural wood grain finish and a method of creating the natural wood grain finish. More specifically, the present invention relates to polyvinyl chloride/wood composite window blind slats having a natural wood grain finish and to a method of applying the finish using a sequential application of paint to create a more decorative look to polyvinyl chloride/wood composite window blinds.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polyvinyl chloride/wood composite compounds are used to manufacture a variety of everyday household products, such as molding and horizontal window blind slats. The advantage that polyvinyl chloride/wood composite has over ordinary polyvinyl chloride is that the finished product looks and feels more like real wood than plastic. The most common way to manufacture such polyvinyl chloride/wood composite products is by the extrusion process. However, upon initial processing, these polyvinyl chloride/wood composites produce a material that has a uniform brownish color. Because this brownish color is usually not desired, especially in decorative items such as window blinds, a second manufacturing step is required in which the polyvinyl chloride/wood composite is covered with a thin layer of polyvinyl chloride in a co-extrusion process to give the desired color, usually white.
The present invention produces polyvinyl chloride/wood composite article, such as window blind slats, that have the look of natural or stained wood. The present invention actually enhances the brownish color of the polyvinyl chloride/wood composite and imparts a natural wood grain finish to the composite. There are significant economic advantages to creating a natural wood grain finish on polyvinyl chloride/wood composite because the material cost is substantially lower for polyvinyl chloride/wood composite than it is for real wood. Furthermore, this method of creating a natural wood grain finish on articles, such as window blind slats, made of polyvinyl chloride/wood composites offers distinct advantages over existing polyvinyl chloride/wood composite finishing methods.